Tralee Warriors made it three in a row in the Basketball Ireland Development League with a hard fought but deserved 81-75 win over keen local rivals St. Mary’s in the Castleisland Community Centre last night.
The Warriors led at the end of all four quarters but a late surge from St. Mary’s almost reeled in the visitors down the stretch and with one minute to play there was a single score between the teams.
After an evenly contested opening quarter the Warriors led 30-25 with Seamus Brosnan and Declan Cahill in range for St. Mary’s but Josh Osayanrhion and Olaf Michalczuk hit late scores to give the Tralee side the lead.
The Warriors built on that advantage in the second despite Donal McCarthy, Mark O’Shea and Darragh O’Connell hitting scores, two threes from Brian O’Leary and a fine inside effort from Padraig Fleming pushed the visitors further ahead at 48-39 at half time.
St. Mary’s went on a good run early in the third with McCarthy, Brosnan, O’Shea, O’Connell and Cian Clernon combining to cut the gap back to a single score. The Warriors' failure to convert 6 from 8 from the line looked like proving costly but scores from inside and outside from Michalczuk saw them lead 64-59 at three quarter time.
The Warriors started the final quarter in style with Jack Tobin, Michalczuk and Osayanrhion added a collective 10 points without reply but the St. Mary’s response was immediate with a brilliant individual display from Seamus Brosnan who single handedly added 10 of the next 14 points for the home side leaving just 2 between the teams with one minute on the clock. However a missed three point effort as well as leaving two free throws on the floor gave the visitors the chance they needed to seal the win and Osayanrhion and Tobin duly obliged to give the Warriors a deserved if hard fought 81-75 win in the end.
Scorers:
St. Mary’s: Seamus Brosnan 24, Declan Cahill 18, Mark O’Shea 12
Tralee Warriors: Olaf Michalczuk 20, Joshua Osayanrhion 19, Jack Tobin 10
Next up for the Warriors is a home date against Fr. Mathews at the Tralee Sports Complex on Sunday 10th December with tip off at 5.15pm.
